RIO DE JANEIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Around 100,000 tickets across all Olympic events will go on sale on Thursday in what could be the last chance for fans to see their favourite sports at the Rio 2016 Games, according to organizers.
Included in the latest ticket batch are seats at the opening ceremony on August 5 and the closing ceremony on August 21.
Previously unavailable swimming and tennis sessions will also be available, as will medal events in volleyball, basketball and football.
Fans will be able to make purchases from the Rio 2016 portal and approved ticket offices in Brazil.
It will be the last time that a large instalment of tickets is released onto the market.
"With venue preparations being completed and broadcast plans finalized, some of the seating areas previously set aside for the use of broadcast equipment have been freed up, making more tickets available," the Rio 2016 organizing committee said in a statement on its official website.
Earlier this month Rio 2016 said 4.3 million tickets out of 6 million had already been sold for the Olympics.
Football has been the most popular sport, followed by basketball, volleyball, athletics and handball. Enditem
WASHINGTON vans old skool dame , July 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept federal funds rate unchanged, reiterating that it continues to closely monitor inflation indicators and global economic and financial developments.
"Near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished vans old skool sort dame ," said the Fed in a statement after concluding two-day monetary policy meeting. This new expression might indicate that conditions are getting more favorable for further interest rate hikes in the future.
Fed officials gave more upbeat description of the economy. There was some increase in labor utilization in recent months, pointing to a healthy labor market despite the slowdown in April and May. Household spending have grown "strongly."
Inflation continues to run below the Fed's 2 percent target vans old skool sort , a major concern for Fed officials. But they expected inflation to rise to the target over the medium term as the transitory effects of past declines in energy and import prices dissipate and the labor market strengthens further.
While Fed policymakers said they continued to closely monitor inflation data and global economic and financial developments, the improved job and consumption data eased Fed officials concerns over the economy's near-term risks.
The Fed raised its target range for the federal funds rate to 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent in December last year vans old skool dame hvid , the first rate hike in nearly a decade, marking the end of an era of extraordinary easing monetary policy.
But the turmoil in financial markets and a slowdown in global economy since the start of the year have raised increased concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy vans old skool hvid , forcing Fed policymakers to hold off on any further rate hikes since then.
Wednesday's statement suggested officials have become less concerned about the economic outlook than they were in June, when concerns about the economic outlook increased amid the weak job report in April and May http://www.oldskooltilbud.com/ , slow first-quarter growth, and uncertainty about the U.K. vote on whether to leave European Union.
Fed officials stressed in the statement that whether or when to raise interest rates will depend on incoming data. Analysts widely hold that the statement left the Fed's options open for its next meeting on Sept. 20 and 21.
by Luan Xiang
BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres believes that her temperament of being positive, along with her skills through more than 30 years in high-level national and international negotiations, makes her a good pick for the top job of the United Nations.
"I am chronically an optimist," said Figueres, the Costa Rican candidate to become the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a recent interview with Xinhua in Beijing.
That is exactly what the world needs -- optimism and faith in a better future yet to come -- according to Figueres, who used to served as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Under Figueres' coordination as executive secretary, a historic Paris agreement on climate change was adopted on Dec. 12, 2015 by the 196 Parties to the UNFCCC during the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) hosted by France, which marks the first step in a joint long-term effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Figueres finished her obligations as UN climate change chief by July 6 before announcing her bid to enter the campaign to compete for the UN's top job the following day. She campaigned before the UN General Assembly Thursday to succeed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who will retire on Jan. 1, 2017,joining 11 other announced candidates to be interviewed by members of UN General Assembly.
IMPARTIAL YET NOT INDIFFERENT
Though she is an optimist by nature, Figueres clarifies that her positive perspective is not naivete.
"The world we live in is not ideal, and an ideal world may never happen," said the Latin American diplomat, adding that it is important to be aware of the tough challenges ahead, including poverty, terrorism, food security, the refugee crisis, regional unrest, social injustice and inequality.
These problems need to be tackled, with an impartial, fair attitude, because they won't go away with just a wave of a magic wand, nor will they disappear overnight, she said.
"I was born impatient," said the San Jose native, "and it makes me feel impatient to see that there are still injustice and suffering in this world."
But in her career as a diplomat, climate negotiator and UN official, Figueres has learned to be patient, listen and collaborate through tactful negotiation.